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Wednesday, 28 January 2015

The year is off to a good start with my first finish for 2015. Here is Plum Street Samplers Promised Lamb.

I'm thrilled with the way this has turned out and can't wait until I have it framed and on my walls.I stitched this on 36ct WDW Confederate Grey linen using one strand of floss. This is the first time I've used this particular colour of linen and it won't be the last. I love the colour and find it lends itself to so many different designs.

I love stitching Christmas designs and always have so many that I want to get done and so little time in which to do it. Consequently, I decided to start off the new year with another Christmas stitch. With the exception of the word Noel in the design it looks like more of a winter design and it can easily be left up on display after the holiday is over. I showed you on my last post the first stitches I'd put in on Heaven and Nature Sing but I've progressed much further along now.

This is such a beautiful design and has a real calming effect whenever I pick it up. I'll miss it when I'm finished it. There's still about a few days more of stitching left so it will probably be another week or so before I have this one done up. My stitching time is never consistent.

Continuing with the winter theme is Threadwork Primitives Winter Time. As you can see I'm just getting started on this one. More deer ..... hmmm, do I sense a theme here, lol! In case you hadn't guessed it, I love stitching anything with deer in it. There's been a deer in each of the three designs that I've worked on this year.

I've also been working on some smaller designs for this month's Smalls SAL. I've completed two as well as finished up an older stitch. I don't want to spoil it by showing both of them already but I will give you a look at one of the finishes.This is from a Trio of Hearts Reproduction Motifs by Jenny Hoffman of Country Rustic Primitives. It's reproduction #2.

After stitching this sweet small I'm getting into Valentine mode. I'll have to see what else I can dig out along those lines.

I have decided to withdraw my participation in this years' Stitch From Stash for a number of reasons. I will continue to use them as inspiration though and endeavour to stick to that theme.

That about covers this month's stitching with the exception of one last post this coming Wednesday with all my smalls finishes. Wow, January is almost done and we've not had near the snowfall as last year. Fingers crossed that February brings more of the same!

I've been out and about looking for some more of the snowy owls that I saw last year in our neighbourhood. However with the exception of the one I spotted at the end of October, I've only had two other sitings. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me for either of them and smart phones just won't cut it. They don't have the zoom on them necessary to get these pics. So for now I'll leave you with a couple pics of the most recent visitors to our feeder.

Welcome to the 2015 Smalls SAL! Follow the link and check it out. The SAL is open to new participants all year. I hope you'll join us! I decided to start 2015 Smalls SAL with some sweet Valentine stitches. I really need some new winter smalls too but I was a little slow on moving to get these done in time. In fact I only got as far as picking out some patterns. I kept getting sidetracked by all the wonderful Valentine designs being released.I'm picturing three designs but only two have been stitched this year. The larger pillow is a free design by Nan Lewis of Threadwork Primitives and can be found here. I stitched it last year but just finished the pillow this week.

These other two smalls were stitched specifically for this month's commitment. They're both designed by Jenny Hoffman of Country Rustic Primitives and are from a chart called Trio of Hearts Reproduction Motifs. They are numbers 2 and 3 of the trio.

Now I'd like to take a few minutes to share a cause which is near and dear to me. I'm talking about Bell Canada's Let's Talk Initiative for Mental Health. Please take a minute to visit the Facebook site indicated by the link and share Howie Mandel's photo to your Facebook site. For every time this pic is shared, Bell Canada will donate 5 cents to mental health initiatives in Canada. Anyone can share the pic. For Canadians, the same applies if Bell is your service provider and you text the message to all your friends and family.Already over 14 million texts and tweets have been sent today. That's over $700,000 for mental health! Last year over $5 million was raised. This is a very important initiative for me because several of my family members suffer from mental health disorders including one of my sons who suffers from OCD and generalized anxiety disorder. It's time we all shared and we all talked. Please help pass on the message!

Monday, 5 January 2015

Welcome to a new year of WIPocalypse! This is my third year posting as part of this wonderful group. If you have many WIP languishing in a pile than this is the group for you! I don't often have works leftover which have accumulated. I tend to finish what I start for the most part. I will finish up those works which I had not completed by year's end and add to the list as I go along.

You can see a list of what I'd like to stitch this year by clicking on the 2015 WIPocalypse which you see at the top of my blog. The link will take you to the list. I've shortened it a little from last year because I didn't complete all the projects that I originally hoped to. I've found over the years that I'm what I term a mood stitcher. My moods change throughout the year and I just stitch whatever my mood dictates. If you want to join us, follow the link here and sign up! It's a fun way to share your stitching with others with no pressure of deadlines or competition.

One of the pieces on my list is Plum Street Samplers Promised Lamb. I started this design at the tail end of November. As Christmas approached I had very little time to work on it and I knew that it would be a carry over into the new year. Pretty much anything is that I start at that time of the year unless it's a small. Here's some pics of my progress at the end of the year and my progress since the start of the new year.

I had hoped to have that house all stitched by now but I got interested in another new start. This is another Christmas design although not too much so.It's by With Thy Needle and Thread and is called Heaven and Nature Sing.

I'm stitching this on WDW 30 ct Cocoa. I try to stick to the designated floss but quite often the dye lots differ or they don't look right on the material if it is not the same as the designer's. In this case, the proposed colour of the dress, Gentle Art Lexington Green, just sort of faded away into the materialso I substituted with WDW Dove which is working out quite well.

I'm enjoying both pieces very much but will be starting on a small soon as I have also continued my participation in the Smalls SAL for 2015. Perhaps a design for the New Year or a Valentine? Time will tell!

The weather here has turned bitterly cold after having received only our second storm of this winter. Yesterday we received 18 cm of snow followed by freezing rain, then rain and finally a small dusting of snow again overnight. Talk about a mix of weather!

Finally I have to show you the latest addition to my eldest son's family. Meet little Luna. Isn't she cute? She's a chocolate point Siamese and apparently is super affectionate.

My stomach tells me it's time to get supper on the go. How about a pot of chili on this cold winter's night? Sounds about right to me!

Thursday, 1 January 2015

I want to wish each and every one of my family and friends, stitchy or not!, a very Happy New Year! I hope that 2015 brings you all nothing but blessings.... health, happiness and prosperity. I want to thank all of you for being a part of my blog either through your comments or stopping by regularly to read my posts. I appreciate that so many of you are interested in my little Korner and hope to connect with you again in this coming year.